Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site mnetor.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utcsri!utcs!mnetor!fred
From: fred@mnetor.UUCP
Newsgroups: can.general,can.politics
Subject: Re: Re: Re: war criminals
Message-ID: <455@mnetor.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 23-Apr-85 10:42:56 EST
Article-I.D.: mnetor.455
Posted: Tue Apr 23 10:42:56 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 23-Apr-85 11:42:45 EST
References: <2185@utcsstat.UUCP> <428@utai.UUCP> <431@mnetor.UUCP> <611@utcs.UUCP>
Organization: Computer X (CANADA) Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Lines: 42

> In article <431@mnetor.UUCP> fred@mnetor.UUCP (Fred Williams) writes:
> >Perhaps the greatest punishment that could be exacted on these
> >criminals is publicity. We find them, and expose them. It may no
> >longer serve any purpose to imprison them. Have they not made
> >their own prison? ...
  
> ...
> My Mother witnessed a german soldier grab a baby, her cousin, by the legs,
> yank him out of his crib and smash his head on a wall.  Am I to believe
> that you are suggesting that if that soldier is found living in Toronto,
> the Canadian people should feel satisfied with just 'publicity'??!!
> 
> I cannot see that such minor punishment is appropriate for murder.
> 

	You make a good point. Please understand that I am not trying to
belittle the crimes involved. But what is the purpose of sentencing
convicted criminals. Different people will give different answers,
such as:
	1.) To prevent the criminal from repeating the crime. (ie. to
	remove him/her from society.
	2.) To punish the criminal thereby teaching him/her that such
	things are not permitted.
	3.) To serve as a deterent to others.

	A person who has been living in our society, or one not too
different from our's, for 40 years and has not broken the law, has
proved something. They are not likely to repeat the crime. Have
they not learned that what was done is not moral? Can we imagine
the guilt they must live with? The only reason I can see for
continuing to prosecute war criminals from WW2 is number three,
and this seems to be valid. We must not let this happen again.
	I am surprised that what no-one picked up in my previous 
posting was that merely publicizing that so-and-so is a war
criminal and leaving him/her at large would probably result in
vigilante action and leave the door open to anarchy. It hit me
later that this could happen and so I retract the suggestion, for
this reason and because of item 3 above.
	By the way, similar crimes, (usually to a lesser degree), are
committed in every war usually by both sides. -Food for thought!

Cheers,		Fred Williams.